1
Silas
I’m on my sofa watching a show about some guy with tigers when there’s a knock on my door. I pause the streaming service, then walk to the door and look through the peephole.
“Whoa,” I say, probably loud enough for the cop on the other side to hear me.
Opening my door, I step onto my porch.
“Evening. I’m Officer Vines. We’re looking into a missing persons report.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I pull my glasses from where I have them tucked into the front of my T-shirt and slide them on. “Someone’s missing?”
“Your neighbor.”
“The girl?”
“No, her boyfriend Trevor. Have you seen him around lately?”
“Sure.” I shrug. “I mean, I’ve seen a guy over there a few times. He parks his car right there all the time.” I point to the spot in front of the fire hydrant. “A black car--no wait, maybe it’s blue.”
“A blue Corolla.” Officer Vines nods. “We haven’t been able to locate either Mr. Gaskin or his vehicle.”
“How long has he been gone?” I glance over at the quaint one-story Victorian next door. “Is she okay?”
“Miss Franklin is fine, just worried. She filed the report, and we’re following up.” Officer Vines leans forward. “Between you and me, they probably had some sort of a spat, and he’s out somewhere blowing off steam. But it’s my job to look into these things.” He shrugs. “So here I am. So did you see or hear anything? Any sort of disturbance next door in the past few days?”
I think back. Has there been anything weird? “Hmm. No, nothing sticks out. I’m trying to remember the last time I saw his car out there.”
“Miss Franklin says her boyfriend was here three nights ago, things got heated between them over some text messages she found on his phone, and then he left angry. Hasn’t been back since. Hasn’t answered his phone, and when she checked his apartment no one answered the door..
“Huh.” I lean against my door frame, careful not to cross my arms. You see, crossing your arms is a body language signal that says you have something to hide. Though I don’t think Officer Vines knows much about that finer point of non-verbal communication, I wouldn’t want him to think I’m not being forthcoming. “You think he’s okay?”
“Eh, things like this--he’s probably holed up with some other chick somewhere, banging her and bitching about the one next door. He’ll turn up.”
“I hope so. I don’t really know the girl who lives there--I only moved in a few months ago—but she seems nice whenever we pass on walks.”
Something grazes my leg, and I look down to find Toby’s tail hooking against my calf. “But I have met her cat.” I jerk my chin at the orange tabby. “He’s a real good boy.”
Officer Vines narrows his eyes. “I’m a dog person.”
Of course you are.
“Well, if you think of anything, give the PD a call, all right? And if you see the boyfriend, let us know. I don’t want to be chasing the guy down when he’s right next door.” He sighs and steps back, his gaze turning toward the rest of the street. “He’ll turn up, but I have to ask around anyway.”
“Sure thing. I’ll call if I see him, and I’ll try to keep an eye out for Miss Franklin. Things being what they are, she might be scared staying in that house by herself.”
“You’re a good neighbor.”
I smile. “I try to be.”
“All right. Gotta beat feet.” He drops down the steps to my sidewalk, then turns to the right, heading toward Mrs. Waverly’s house to continue his canvassing.
He glances back at me, then I wave as I return inside and set the Netflix to play again. Just like a normal guy would do, go back to his show and pay half attention to it while dicking around on his phone and snacking.
But I don’t sit on the sofa. Instead, I head down the hall, open the door to the basement, then pad down the stairs.
“You doing all right, buddy?” I ask Trevor.
He doesn’t answer.
“What’s the matter? Scared of the cops? You all froze up? Man, I’m going to shoot straight with you here. You hit my girl. You shouldn’t have. I never liked you. Jamie deserved better, but I didn’t force the issue. I let you come visit. I didn’t stop you. Even though I knew you were dicking other girls on the side. This is Jamie’s life. Not mine. I wanted to intervene, but I didn’t because she has to make her own choices. But then you fucked up. And now you’re here.” It helped that she never really let him touch her. Who knows what I would have done if she had? Doesn’t matter. She didn’t. My dream girl always exceeds my wildest expectations.
I smirk as I open my chest freezer and get a look at Trevor, his eyes like marbles with a light sheen of frost over them. “Don’t worry. Jamie’s in good hands now. And the most important lesson here, Trevor, is that you will never ever hurt my Jamie again.” I slam the freezer, then head back upstairs.
After all, I need to check on Jamie.
2
Jamie
I peek out the blinds and watch as the cops pull away from the curb. They were no help at all. At least I did my part. I reported Trevor missing. What else could I do? I worry that someone might have heard what happened the other night and jump to conclusions. Trevor had left my place in an uproar.
My biggest concern is that someone might think I caused his disappearance or maybe even killed him. Which is ridiculous. I’m not that dumb. If I was going to kill him it wouldn't be at my own home. I’d also make sure I had some kind of alibi.
I lower the blinds and go back over to the coffee table to pull out all the books I shoved underneath. The last thing I need is for the police to see these. I'm not a murderer. I’m just a girl with a little too much time on her hands and a small fascination with murder. Well, maybe not murder, exactly, but murderers. Especially the perfect crime. Not that I want to kill anyone, but it’s interesting to put the pieces together. True crime is my guilty pleasure. Podcasts, subreddits, forums, you name it.
I let out a small scream and drop my books on the coffee table when I hear a noise. What was that? I look around. Oh. It’s someone knocking at my door. Have the cops come back? But when I hear a meow, I know it’s Toby. He bumps his butt against the loose screen door when he’s ready to come back in. How does that little stinker keep getting out?
Popping all the locks, I open the door to see my neighbor standing there with Toby in his arms. My neighbor strokes my fur baby with far too friendly a hand. Even so, I grab him by the wrist, pull him inside, and slam the door behind him, before I click all the locks into place. I can’t risk anything happening to him or my fur baby. I mean, obviously there’s a killer on the loose. Has to be. Trevor isn’t just missing, he’s dead. The cops didn’t believe me. But I can feel it. Crime! Right under my nose. But I have to play it cool and careful. The killer could be watching us.
“I came to check on you. Are you okay?”
I turn around and almost run right into Silas.